Great Animes that most people havn't ever heard of

[KholdStare]

I forgot to add Hanbun no Tsuki ga Noboru Sora, and great short series that's just...great.

[Supah Em]

zegapain
fafner
hatenkou yuugi
hantsuki
5cm per second
seirei no moribito
baccano
lamune

so many underaprecciated animes, i'll add and explain later

Originally Posted by NightSamurai

Another great one very few people have heard of is this anime Naruto, it is about the struggles of one little boy to become a great ninja. You will probably have a hard time finding episodes to watch this one, however, but it will be worth your time to do so.

is this sarcasm?

naruto is very popular and WAAY

[felix]

Current ones: True Tears, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle
Older ones: Soukou no Strain, Mushishi

[SeijiSensei]

Originally Posted by Saber Cherry

music I don't like (including rap, jazz, and abuse of engrish)

You won't like Oh! Edo Rocket's sound track, then: lots of 40's-styled big-band swing music, 60's progressive jazz, and Latin mariachi stuff.

I can understand better why you think Ootake's work sounds like elevator music. Just not your musical cup of tea.

[devildog23]

Princess Mononoke is a breathtaking movie that not enough people notice. You have to watch it to realize its merit. Its old so it lost some of its popularity

Overdrive comes to mind. Its based on my tastes, but its really good. Overdrive is about sports, bicycle racing in particular and its widely underrated and unknown. Although the race seems to drag on, the ending to the race makes up for it. It has some pretty funny moments and some pretty dramatic moments. Bike racing for the premise of the show sounds lame, but its surprisingly very interesting.

Bakumatsu Kikansetsu Irohanihoheto isn't well known, but it should be. Although it goes on and off with some shows being boring and others being amazing, it still kept my interest. Its like a samurai historical anime with some elements of fantasy.

Ranma 1/2 is widely known as it is, but since its so old, nobody really pays attention to it anymore.

Major is another sports anime that not many pay attention to. The first season is its best season. NOTE - its the only thing involved with sports that made me cry like a baby.

An underrated, but GREAT comedy anime is Yakitate Japan!! A typical shonen animem but with a twist, the superpower isn't super saiyan or a zanpakutou, its bread. Yeah you heard me, and thats what makes it awesome and funny. Its solely based on comedy so if your looking to laugh, look into this one.

Ongoing ones that I find underrated
D.Grayman - I find not many people pay attention to this, but its actually very good, its a shonen anime, but don't shoot it down because of that. It employs action, adventure, horror, drama, and comedy all into one breadbasket. If you start watching it and like it, I'll tell you once it hits episode 53 it gets way better.

Yeah and about Naruto, its probably the most popular anime out there right now, although I have yet to see it.

EDIT - To the person who posted below me - Really? I never knew, because I haven't heard of it that much before I started watching it and I rarely see it suggested, so I thought it wasn't that popular. And like I did, some people may overlook this one because of the odd concept.

[Phantasmagoria]

Originally Posted by Spectacular_Insanity

Same goes for Kekkaishi. I've watched 28 episodes, and while it is an okay anime, it is average. In every way possible. Storyline, characters, all immediately made me think, "meh, I've seen better". Again, while it's not bad, I wouldn't rate it as "must see", because as I said, it just average, and frankly has too many boring anime character archetypes. It has good animation and effects in its favor, but I kind of dropped it after a while because I just got bored with it because it didn't bring anything new to the table for anime. Five years ago it would have been great, but since then I've seen other shows that do what Kekkaishi does but better.

Other shows that do what Kekkaishi does but better? Give me those examples, I am curious what those other anime are. Kekkaishi is "average"? Oh my goodness... my goodness.

Originally Posted by Saber Cherry

Kekkaishi is hardly unknown, but it should probably be more popular than it is. Unfortunately, it is hard to define in a genre. In the suggestions forum, people can ask for "romance", "comedy", "action", "high-school", "dark", "happy", "mystery", "fantasy", "epic", "masterpiece", "depressing", "uplifting", "sports", "crime", "war", sci-fi", "mecha", "martial arts", and so forth... and really, it does not fit any of these categories, so it is hard to recommend. It is probably my #1 most anticipated weekly(ish) release now, but it somehow never seems like the correct suggestion!

Hmm.. I suppose I was editting my post when you're replying back.. I am pretty sure it's popular in Japan but, how about other parts of world..? Taking AnimeSuki for example, the Manga thread has a mere 3 post ( one from me ), and the Anime thread is mildly-active.

Originally Posted by Saber Cherry

Unfortunately, like Kekkaishi, it is hard to categorize. Simoun is usually recommended to people looking for yuri (which it really isn't), so again, I'll have to say it is an unfortunate case of a very good (but again, not masterpiece-level) anime relegated to obscurity because it has no clear genre.

Agreed.

Originally Posted by devildog23

D.Grayman - I find not many people pay attention to this, but its actually very good, its a shonen anime, but don't shoot it down because of that. It employs action, adventure, horror, drama, and comedy all into one breadbasket. If you start watching it and like it, I'll tell you once it hits episode 53 it gets way better.

You're kidding!! Tell me you're kidding! It's too popular!!

[Deus ex Digital Boy]

I saw someone mention Simoun, which unlike all the other liscenced shows that people have mentioned, still manages to fly largely under-the-radar and is indeed one of the best shows of the past few years, and a member of my top 10-15. Feel sorry for anyone who missed it, but if you did, go buy the DVDs. They're sub only but have a ton of episodes and are cheap.

[Goofus Maximus]

Argh! From 70 degrees one day to 7 inches of snow the next, and now, two days later, 50 degrees and thunderstorms. I've not had enough up-time on my cable modem to come back here and catch up.

ANYHOW! I can't help my taste in soft jazz piano, but the music just went hand and glove with the ambience of the show. Sometimes music doesn't survive being separated from it's show, while other times, such as in Claymore, the show kind of swamps the music, which I found to be surprisingly good, when listened to by itself.

My favorite Bartender episode is the "Old Man and the Sea" episode, otherwise known as the Frozen Daiquiri show. Next favorite would be the show with the Old Politician and lawyer who visited Eden Hall. Third on the list, is the "Black Witch" episode, with it's cold remedies.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by Goofus Maximus

GACK!!! He beat me to it! BARTENDER FOR THE WIN!!!

Has everyone heard of Last Exile? I just stumbled upon that one myself, and it is such a good series, there's no way it wasn't popular...

Seen Last Exile recently also and I think it's great.
Second Yakitate Japan!- really great comedy, and really probably one of the most interesting idea for anime.
Gundam 0080 War in Pocket- yes it's Gundam title but the show I think it's pretty much underrated by many. And it's lot difference from other Gundam as it focus much on the civilian side.

[Telmah]

I'd suggest Zettia Shonen. Very few people seem to have seen it at all, fewer can bear to sit through it. It moves at a very relaxed pace, similar to real life. There's lots of just everyday conversations, but it slowly clues you in on a deeper plot. It's the story about a boy, a cat, and a kappa...and by the time the first season finishes, it comes to a pretty interesting conclusion. It's not for everyone, but it's good in its own way and doesn't get the credit it deserves.

I'd also suggest Twin Spica. For a 2003 anime, character designs are horribly simple which can turn some people off. The backgrounds and such can be amazingly well done so I can't say it has bad animation. The pacing on individual episodes is very good...uplifting story against the backdrop of horrible events, however the pacing of the series as a whole can be poor, with flashback episodes thrown in jarring the overall rhythm. It does a masterful job at plucking your heartstrings, much akin to Shinigami's Ballad.

[bbduece]

--db/z/gt--naruto--bleach--deathnote--code geass--gundam series--...


Seriously i also think Last Exile isnt mention much in these threads atleast not recently

Kemonozume probably didnt exist till i mentioned it just now

is this sarcasm?

naruto is very popular and WAAY

so much sarcasm but this thread ask for it ^^

[blewin]

I second Denno Coil. It has a refreshing approach focusing on dark mystery, but the gem of the story is hidden behind the deceptively innocent childplay of children that manages to turn many viewers off (as already mentioned by a previous poster who dislikes it). Intertwined with the comical and realistic childplay are hints dotted throughout episodes. The mystery is slowly revealed, but the characters do a great job of maintaining interest. A prominent theme of the anime is the distance between people. The meandering way of storytelling that gradually unravels the mystery in actuality symbolises the message. More patient viewers who watched the entire anime should agree that the depth of Denno Coil is surprisingly deep.

Last Exile is actually pretty popular. It probably doesn't get mentioned as much because it's an older anime - aired in 2003.

and I also second Zegapain. What started out as a typical boy suddenly thrown into battle and knowing how to pilot giant machine plot turns out to be one convoluted story exploring the boundary of reality. Like many viewers, I dislike the flashy mecha, but the story itself is worth ten times more. It's more than enough to cover for my discomfort of watching the eye-dazzling mecha battles. Similar to Denno Coil, Zegapain unfolds slowly. When I hit the right episode, I was amazed by the revelation, and yet more amazed by the impact on previous revelation by future revelations. The anime has a matrix feel to it. However, it puts on its own twist and quickly deviates from Matrix. The entire melancholy and sometimes despairing atmosphere is part of the main strength of Zegapain. I think this anime is one of those that makes you think. It has the right atmosphere for it, but it's not too confusing and confounding like Evangelion and Noein. Just love this anime!

[Koroviev]

Baccano!

And, here's a REAL challenge - The Skull Man. Come on, how many heard of that one?

[gonzo562]

the third aoi hitomi no shoujo

[D a m i e n]

kaze no yojimbo (old)
the skull man (recent)

more to come when coffee will start awakening my braincells.

[Koroviev]

Damien won the thread. Never knew there were other Skull Man fans.

[Navel]

One more here for both Skull Man and Kaze no Yojimbo.

But I've also heard, or seen, or attempted to see and dropped, most of the series mentioned here.

Btw, Princess Tutu, has anyone seen it ?

A fast search on AniDB ordered by rating and with a minimum rating of 8 shows anime that have thousands of votes, and others that have less than 100. Most of them are post 2000 series, so that explains why they're so popular. Tadaa...

[Telmah]

I've seen Princess Tutu and just wrote a bit about it for another thread in the suggestion forum this morning. Rather than rewrite it again, I'll quote myself. Perhaps I should have included it here, since it's good and unappreciated, just didn't want to include too much text.

Finally I'll suggest Princess Tutu--the name of the show is the worst thing about it. The first 6 or so episodes seem very mundane, monster of the weekish fair. The only reason I muddled through them was because a friend pushed me too, and they were mildly interesting set to classic ballet music. However, after that point, the series got better and better as it reached its season one climax, as character roles shifted. The interesting thing was, the second season is perhaps one of the most effective I've seen in anime...most shows tend to stick with what made them good the first season and are unwilling to try new things for they fear alienating their fanbase. The character roles shift so completely, everything is refreshing and new...and the story moves to a definite conclusion. It's a mostly unknown show but is very good for what it is.

[Terrestrial Dream]

Originally Posted by bbduece

--db/z/gt--naruto--bleach--deathnote--code geass--gundam series--...
so much sarcasm but this thread ask for it ^^

Gundam in a way is kinda ignored, but oh yes Gundam is probably most famous anime. However people only know the name Gundam and some of the great Gundam like 0080, Gundam X, and Turn A Gundam gets ignored by many, could be wrong about Turn A.

[SeijiSensei]

Having written earlier today about Mahou Shoujo Tai Arusu made me realize it deserves mention in this thread as well. It's an exquisitely beautiful show by Studio 4°C. Though it's clearly intended for children with its cast of young witches and its short episodes, the story is dark and complex enough to hold an adult's attention. Sadly it just got licensed in the past six months or so and isn't available on AS any longer.